News reporter opens up about suffering miscarriages

A CBS news reporter based in Texas has opened up about suffering multiple devastating miscarriages whilst she was on the road reporting.

Mireya Villarreal wrote an essay published on CBS News which started with her first miscarriage, which she suffered in 2017 whilst covering the bushfires in Yosemite.

"I had trekked 45 minutes to the top of this hill, and was drenched in sweat, but determined not to give up," she wrote "and now there was no guarantee we'd make it on air because other news was breaking".

Mireya Villarreal suffered three miscarriages when she was on the road reporting. (Instagram)

Villarreal said it was after this she felt a excruciating pain that felt like someone was taking "a knife and stabbing my abdomen".

Villareal revealed that she chose not to tell her male co-workers she was with because they wouldn't understand. "I'd get that look. Oh, you poor woman" — and then word would get back to my managers. So I kept everything to myself" she said.

She was nine months along at the time and said she fell into a deep depression after she lost the baby, questioning if she was to blame.

"The questions all women ask themselves after a miscarriage popped into my head: Did I cause this? Was it my fault?" Villareal said.

She continued "the assignment lasted another day before the fire retreated into the forest. I bled for five more days and saw my OB-GYN two more times to confirm I'd lost the baby".

Villamear said she turned to facts about miscarriages and pregnancies to ease the pain after her loss but said the data and statistics and knowing it happened to other woman didn't help the situation. "I still felt ashamed and guilty. I blamed myself then and still do" the news reporter revealed.

At first Villamear said she didn't talk about the miscarriage, leaving her feeling isolated, sad and angry. "I was worried about asking for help because I didn't want anyone to think it would affect my work" she admitted, saying she knew she needed to seek help when "I felt like I was becoming this bitter, jaded person no one wanted to be around".

Mireya Villarreal and her three-year-old son. (Instagram)

Villamear says through therapy she's realised it's important to forgive herself. She also says "I've moved past the stigma to help myself and help others".

Despite the pain of the miscarriages, Villamear still wants a bigger family.

"I want to have more children. And I would go through a hundred more miscarriages if it meant having another child like my three-year-old".